The NBA’s stamp of approval on the Pistons’ move downtown was a mere formality.

And the last regulatory step in a process that began more than a year ago came Thursday when the league announced the unanimous vote by the league’s Board of Governors.

The word came in a short, two-sentence release from the league office, the official OK for the Pistons to leave the Palace of Auburn Hills and start playing games at Little Caesars Arena in the fall.

Last month Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer opined what the move could mean for the city of Detroit.

A southeast Michigan native and former valedictorian at Birmingham Detroit Country Day, the former Microsoft CEO owner still has cousins in the area.

Ballmer said he marvels at the downtown boom and hopes the NBA’s approval can be a next step in helping the prosperity spread.

“It’s almost like a connection point between downtown and Midtown,” Ballmer told the Free Press last month after the league’s Board of Governors meeting at the Wynn hotel in Las Vegas.

“You get more space covered, more congregation. I think that’s probably going to be a good thing. I hear it’s a beautiful arena, but how do you start to get things moving out in the neighborhoods? Separate issue, but I think in terms of Detroit, in the terms of sports, that’s a step. Having the Pistons back in town is great for the building of momentum.”

Approval process

The news is a result of more than a year of negotiations between Pistons owner Tom Gores’ Palace Sports & Entertainment and the Ilitch family’s Olympia Entertainment.

The sides announced in November an agreement to bring the Pistons to Little Caesars Arena, which is in the final stages of construction. But it took extensive follow-up work to fully document terms of the agreement in advance of signing.

Negotiations between PS&E and Olympia were completed last month when both sides signed the lease and entertainment joint venture agreements on the eve of last month’s NBA Board of Governors meeting.

A billboard of the Detroit Pistons near the site of the future Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on November 22, 2016.(Photo: Romain Blanquart, Detroit Free Press)

The lease agreement included NBA-mandated modifications to the arena necessary for league approval.

Detroit mayor Mike Duggan, at the news conference announcing the Pistons’ move, said he would ask the Downtown Development Authority and the Detroit City Council to spend $34.5 million to cover those modifications by expanding the public bond offering used to finance construction of the arena.

In addition to the lease agreement, PS&E and Olympia Entertainment also are going to partner on a joint venture combining their entertainment businesses.

That joint venture, which has yet to be named, will control all concerts and entertainment at the two organizations’ venues, including Little Caesars Arena and The Palace of Auburn Hills, DTE Energy Music Theatre and the Fox Theatre, among others.

Final step

Downtown Development Authority and Detroit City Council approval came earlier this summer.

The league’s approval process began last month when its advisory and finance committee received the agreements.

Minority owner and Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem made the presentation. Last week, that committee sent out a memo recommending a ‘yes’ vote from the league’s other 29 teams.

Work continues on the arena area during a construction tour of the Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit on Monday, June 12, 2017.(Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)

A simple majority of the 30 owners who make up the board was required.

The team now can continue its preparations to move into the new arena in time for the early Oct. 4 exhibition season home opener against the Charlotte Hornets. The home opener comes later in October.

“I think for me, I keep it simple,” point guard Ish Smith said last week when asked his excitement level. “I think for the fans, that’s what I’m more excited for. Everybody’s really, really excited about us coming downtown. This is a crazy buzz. We got to do our job and give 110%.”